Technology Meets Language:
My Path to Information Development.
Published on 03.01.2025
Sometimes we must take detours to recognize where our skills can make a difference.
After many years in media planning as an account manager, TV planner, and media analyst, I realized I wouldn’t feel comfortable in this environment long-term. My desire for structured work and fact-based communication conflicted with the requirement to present facts in ways that fit desired narratives. With this insight, I began thinking intensively about my strengths and interests. I explored various career possibilities, including Big Data Analytics and programming. I acquired skills in Python and SQL and tried my hand at data-driven projects. Yet although I gained many new abilities and insights during this phase, I still didn’t feel I was on the right path.
One day, my partner asked me: “Have you ever considered technical documentation? Don’t your strengths and skills match the technical writer profile exactly?” This impulse set me on a new track. I recognized that my strengths—clear language, a sense for structure, and technical understanding—would be ideally suited to this field. Technical documentation—or rather the more comprehensive discipline of information development—proved to be an ideal connection to my aspirations and opened a completely new professional perspective.
From Idea to Action: Starting My Training.
After exploring the technical writer profession, I specifically sought continuing education opportunities. During my research, I quickly came across the tekom website and information about certification as a technical writer. I investigated thoroughly and soon found a small selection of training programs that interested me. All offered prospects of certification and thus the possibility of demonstrating my qualification to potential employers. After conversations with various providers, I chose tecteam Education Institute. The 30-day guest access to learning materials and the program’s clear structure convinced me to start alongside my job with the Technical Documentation Fundamentals Package. My hope was that this foundation would give me the chance to prove myself as a career changer in technical documentation.
In the middle of this first building block of my career change, I suddenly faced a new challenge: my employer’s insolvency fundamentally altered my plans. The question arose whether I should attempt to switch to technical documentation as a career changer in the short term or intensify my training. Thanks to support from my contacts at tecteam and results from my tekom qualification consultation, I could convince the employment agency to support my career change and fund my training.
Modules, Mentors, and Milestones.
The intensive training phase consisted of a clearly structured combination of e-learning, self-study units, and seminars. I worked through learning modules covering topics like documentation structuring and standardization, audience-oriented language, and technical foundations. Additionally, I independently completed online courses on advanced topics like DITA XML, Knowledge Management, Information Architecture, and Software Testing to further deepen my skills. Practical exercises using tools like Oxygen XML Author also expanded my understanding of structured documentation and practical application of XML-based techniques.
Close supervision by my tutors played a central role. Regular feedback and targeted support helped me further develop my abilities and consolidate them at a high level. This comprehensive mix of structured training, practical exercises, and personal commitment ultimately led to successful completion: earning the tekom certificate as Technical Writer. My excellent graduation marked not only an important milestone in my professional reorientation but also confirmed that I made the right decision to realize myself in information development.
Restructuring Cybersecurity: My Contribution to Greater Clarity.
During my four-month internship at SAP, I gathered a wealth of experiences that sustainably shaped both my knowledge and my perspective on information development. As part of the “Redesigning Information Structures in Cybersecurity” project, I worked closely with a team of IT security architects and cybersecurity specialists. The goal was to analyze existing documentation structures and develop a concept for an audience-oriented, topic-based information structure for cybersecurity documentation.
I conducted a detailed inventory of existing information and gathered extensive feedback from the team through questionnaires and personal conversations about framework conditions and challenges. I prepared my insights from this information collection in a structured way and presented them together with solution approaches. I placed special emphasis on designing content to be clear, understandable, and efficiently usable.
A central component of my work was creating a comprehensive guide providing clear recommendations for creating audience-oriented, topic-based information. This certification-relevant information product served to establish uniform standards and consistent structure for security-relevant content. Additionally, I developed a modular template for a Security Hardening Procedure that significantly improved information consistency and traceability and can form an excellent basis for dynamic information delivery in the future.
This internship impressively confirmed how important information development is, especially in security-critical areas like cybersecurity. It not only strengthened my practical skills but also showed how I can create measurable value through clear structure and purposeful communication.
From Static Documents to Dynamic Information.
For me, information development is not just a professional field but a strategic discipline that constantly evolves. Its strength lies in translating technical complexity into clear, understandable information, building bridges between technologies and their users. In an increasingly digitalized world, this ability becomes ever more important.
I find the possibilities offered by AI and automation particularly exciting. Technologies like Natural Language Processing or semantic search can help create, organize, and deliver content more efficiently. For example, AI systems could take over recurring tasks like content categorization or provide suggestions for better structuring. This development creates space to focus more on creative and strategic tasks, like developing tailored information concepts.
Information development requires not just technical know-how but also deep understanding of audiences. Analyzing their needs and individually adapting content is key to a successful information strategy. An example is developing flexible documentation formats that can adapt to different user needs. The demand to not just provide information but make it effectively usable should become self-evident.
I see my task as actively helping shape information development. It’s not just a tool but a strategic lever to make knowledge accessible and dynamically usable. This transformation requires technical understanding, creative solution approaches, and a clear vision for the future. For me, this means continuously advancing information development—away from rigid documentation toward dynamic, interactive, and purposeful information solutions.